ON Thursday, at long last, the International Olympic Committee will decide which city will host the 2000 Olympic Games.
Of the five candidates - Sydney, Beijing, Manchester, Istanbul and Berlin - only two must feel they have a genuine chance of success: Sydney and Beijing.
Manchester have crept up on the rails over the closing stages of the race but I'm sure even their bid committee would be surprised if the vote went in their favour.
Of the two favourites, Sydney is undoubtedly the safe bet while Beijing represents a gamble on behalf of the IOC - a gamble which could prove to be spectacularly successful for the Olympic movement and for humanity or one which could be an unmitigated disaster.
There is no doubt that the Chinese would stage an Olympic Games, particularly an opening ceremony, of magnificent proportions, totally befitting the turn-of-the-century occasion and heralding China's arrival in the modern world.
The Beijing bid committee have put forward several strong reasons why they should be chosen ahead of their rivals, notably that awarding the Olympics to China would precipitate the country's policy of reform and opening up to the outside world.